Author Dustin Hoffman reads from his short stories

Sunday

“I worked as an usher at a movie theatre with a woman named Jennifer Lopez. She’d sell the tickets and then Dustin Hoffman would rip them,” Hoffman said. “We were quite the celebrity duo.”

Regardless of who else may share his name, Dustin M. Hoffman has distinguished himself as the author of “One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist,” a collection of short stories recently awarded the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction. Hoffman will read from his collection at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Hub City Bookshop. This event is free.

The Prairie Schooner Book Prize is awarded by the University of Nebraska and comprises publication and a cash prize. The Upstate region is establishing a track record for the prize, as last year’s winner was Bryn Chancellor of Charlotte, N.C.

When asked how he reacted when he found out he’d won, Hoffman was overjoyed.

“Oh, I freaked out,” Hoffman said. “After the call, there was much dancing and screaming with my 3-year-old daughter.”

Although the prize is awarded by an academically renowned university with a strong literary reputation, the stores in “One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist” are not at all high-brow. Hoffman’s protagonists are every day men and women, blue-collar workers in underpaying, exhausting jobs.

Hoffman drew on his previous work experience as a housepainter in Michigan, a job he held for a decade.

“These stories are littered with the terminology and jargon of these worlds, the tall tales I overheard, scraps of people I used to know that I Frankensteined together,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman has since traded his tool belt for a classroom and teaches English and writing at Winthrop University. Though the transition would seem like an obvious improvement, Hoffman doesn’t regret his time swinging hammers and paintbrushes.

“I miss the instant gratification of completing a wall, making it look new and perfect and so drastically altered in a couple hours work,” Hoffman said. “You don’t get that quick satisfaction in writing or teaching.”

But there is much of his previous work experience that Hoffman is glad to be done with.

“Do I miss the fumes and 14-hour days and aching arms and back? Do I miss the feast-or-famine inconsistency of work or the vulnerability of not knowing if you’ll have work next month?” Hoffman said.

“Whenever I start romanticizing, it’s easy to remind myself how lucky I am to be in the world I work in now.”

While many of the stories stemmed from Hoffman’s own resume, “One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist” is far from autobiographical. In addition to construction workers, Hoffman’s protagonists include a snake salesman, a Jamaican tour guide, and an ice cream truck driver caught in a vicious ice cream truck turf war.

The existential plight of the common man is a tall order for a short story, but Hoffman tempers his subject matter with a healthy dose of humor. The stories in “One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist” may not be side-splitting, but there are ample jokes throughout the book.

Hoffman’s humor is meant to deepen rather than diminish his themes.

“Humor is the gateway emotion for me as a reader,” Hoffman said. “An author needs to make me laugh before I’ll be willing to cry.”

Hoffman’s funniness doesn’t always come easily, however.

“Humor is so hard to pull off, so subjective. I’m often trying out funny on my wife and she just shakes her head,” he said.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Hoffman and his family relocated to South Carolina two years ago. When asked about the regional differences, Hoffman responded with his trademark humor.

“Where’s the snow? You all are quite funny about your bread and milk when you hear of flurries coming,” said Hoffman, adding, “My family and I love the winters here.”

Hoffman also noted similarities between Michigan and South Carolina, some more serious than others.

“Both share the ghost of manufacturing and blue-collar jobs,” Hoffman said. “Midwest or down South, I think folks have been hurt by the loss of work and home that swept through in the recession.”

Hoffman is working on a historical novel about forced labor in the Carolinas as well as a novel about his hometown in Michigan.